ai4bharat/Pralekha huggingface dataset:
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
Dr. Harsh Vardhan reviews Ayushman Bharat – Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana, appreciates progress of the scheme in one year
More than 39 lakh people have availed cashless treatment worth over Rs. 6,100 crore
“I am pleased to know that more than 39 lakh people have availed cashless treatment worth over Rs. 6,100 crore for serious illnesses since the launch of AB-PMJAY. This has resulted in savings of Rs. 12,000 crore to the beneficiary families.” This was stated by Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare today at the high-level review of the implementation of Ayushman Bharat – Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana . The Union Health Ministerappreciated the progress of the scheme as it nears completion of its first year since launch and sated that the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi ji has envisioned the scheme for the health and wellness of the poorest and most vulnerable of the country’s people. “We have to ensure that the vision of our beloved and inspirational Prime Minister is fulfilled,” he emphasized.
Dr Harsh Vardhan further stated that it is important that this initial momentum be maintained in the implementation across the country and the states put in greater strength and efficiency in scaling up their progress and providing seamless health services to the last mile.At the review meeting, Dr Harsh Vardhan also launched the newly designed grievance management portal of AB-PMJAY. This is an online system to help members of the general public to register their grievances and get assisted support.
Dr Harsh Vardhan also gave the go-ahead tothe preparations for the first anniversary of the scheme. Several events are being planned across the country to commemorate the occasion. 23rd September will be celebrated as Ayushman Bharat Diwas. The fortnight of 15th – 30th September will be marked as the “Ayushman Bharat Pakhwara” where several activities will be carried out in the States to generate awareness around the scheme and celebrate this gift of health to the nation. A mega national event “Gyan Sangam” will be organised from 29th – 30th September in New Delhi to highlight the progress and achievements of AB-PMJAY.
The Union Health Minister also visited the different teams and mingled with officials asking them about their work in NHA. He took a deep interest in the cyber security and privacy mechanisms set up at NHA to protect the beneficiaries’ data. He appreciated that NHA has from the very beginning developed the necessary policies and guidelines and adopted the highest global standards and principles including the HIPAA of US Healthcare, GDPR of the European Union and ISO 27001 to safeguard data of crores of citizens. He emphasized that the highest standards of security and privacy, and zero tolerance for corruption and fraud be the cornerstone of the culture of AB-PMJAY.
|S.No
||MoU/Agreement
||Signatory 
||Signatory 
||Exchange
|
|1
||MoU on Cooperation for Prevention of Trafficking in Persons; Rescue, Recovery, Repatriation and Re-Integration of Victims of Trafficking
||HE Shri Saurabh Kumar;
|
Ambassador of India to Myanmar
|HE Moe Kyaw Aung
|
Ambassador of Myanmar to India
|Same as signatories
|
|2
||Agreement between the Government of the Republic of India and the Government of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar regarding Indian Grant Assistance for Implementation of Quick Impact Projects 
||HE Shri Saurabh Kumar;
|
Ambassador of India to Myanmar
|HE Moe Kyaw Aung
|
Ambassador of Myanmar to India
|Same as signatories
|
|3
||Project Agreement between Rakhine State Government and Embassy of India, Yangon for construction of incinerator in Mrauk Oo township hospital, construction of seed storage houses and water supply systems in Gwa township under Rakhine State Development Programme
||HE Shri Saurabh Kumar;
|
Ambassador of India to Myanmar
|HE Moe Kyaw Aung
|
Ambassador of Myanmar to India
|Same as signatories
|
|4
||Project Agreement between Rakhine State Government and Embassy of India, Yangon for distribution of electricity by solar power in five townships of Rakhine State under Rakhine State Development Program
||HE Shri Saurabh Kumar;
|
Ambassador of India to Myanmar
|HE Moe Kyaw Aung
|
Ambassador of Myanmar to India
|Same as signatories
|
|5
||Project Agreement between Rakhine State Government and Embassy of India, Yangon for construction of Kyawlyaung- Ohlphyu road, construction of Kyaung Taung Kyaw Paung road in Buthedaung Township under Rakhine State Development Program
||HE Shri Saurabh Kumar;
|
Ambassador of India to Myanmar
|HE Moe Kyaw Aung
|
Ambassador of Myanmar to India
|Same as signatories
|
|6
||Project Agreement Between Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement and Embassy of India, Yangon for construction of pre-schools under Rakhine State Development Programme
||HE Shri Saurabh Kumar;
|
Ambassador of India to Myanmar
|HE Moe Kyaw Aung
|
Ambassador of Myanmar to India
|Same as signatories
|
|7
||MoU for Cooperation on Combating Timber Trafficking, and Conservation of Tigers and other Wildlife
||HE Shri Saurabh Kumar;
|
Ambassador of India to Myanmar
|HE Moe Kyaw Aung
|
Ambassador of Myanmar to India
|Same as signatories
|
|8
||MoU between India  and Myanmar  for cooperation in the field of petroleum products
||Shri Sunil Kumar
|
Joint Secretary
Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas
Republic of India
|U Than Zaw Director General, Oil & Gas Planning Department, Ministry of Electricity & Energy
||Ambassador of India to Myanmar Shri Saurabh Kumar and Ambassador of Myanmar to India Mr. Moe Kyaw Aung
|
|9
||MoU between the Ministry of Communications of the Republic of India and the Ministry of Transport & Communications of Myanmar on cooperation in the field of communication
||Mr. Anshu Prakash,
|
Secretary, Department of Telecommunications, Ministry of Communications
|H.E Moe Kyaw Aung, Ambassador of Myanmar
||Same as signatories
|
Ministry of Defence
Expedition launched By WNC to recover two climbers lost during an attempt to summit Mt Trishul last year
Mumbai, 11 August, 2022
As part of Swarnim Vijay Varsh celebrations, the Western Naval Command had launched an expedition to Mount Trishul in September 2021. During the summit attempt, a sudden and unexpected avalanche had caused the lead team of five naval personnel, Lt Cdr Rajanikant Yadav NM, Lt Cdr Yogesh Tiwari, Lt Cdr Anant Kukreti, Lt Cdr Shashank Tewari NM, Hariom MCPO II  NM and Sherpa Dupka Tshering NM, to suffer a fatal fall, resulting in their unfortunate demise.
While the mortal remains of four climbers were recovered, two climbers, a naval officer and the sherpa, remained missing. The search operation to locate them had to be discontinued after 13 days of intense effort due to onset of foul weather and winter that made the endeavour unsafe.
In true testimony to the ethos of the Service, an expedition has been launched on 10 August 2022 to recover the two climbers that were lost in the mountain, reiterating that the Indian Navy does not leave any of its own behind.
On this solemn occasion, a Trishul Memorial was instituted in memory of the fallen and will serve as inspiration to future generations of adventurers in the Indian Navy. The Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Vice Admiral Ajendra Bahadur Singh, and other senior officers paid tribute and homage to the lost personnel by lighting candles at the Memorial.
Family members of the bravehearts were also felicitated during the event. The family of the missing sherpa was, in addition, handed a financial aid package as some measure of relief.
These brave men will be forever remembered fondly.

CP/PM
Follow us on social media: @PIBMumbai /PIBMumbai /pibmumbai pibmumbai[at]gmail[dot]com
(Visitor Counter : 495
Ministry of Commerce & Industry
Clarification on Iron Ore Exports;
Duty free Iron Ore Pellet exports ongoing even before 2014;
Export policy restriction put in 1998 only for KIOCL
On the issue of Iron Ore exports, the Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce & Industry would like to place on record the following facts:
Export policy restriction put in 1998 only for KIOCL: On 21.01.1998, vide Notification, a specific entry was added in the export policy regarding “Iron Ore pellets manufactured by Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Limited  out of concentrates produced by it”. Thus, the export policy was regard to only Iron Ore pellets manufactured by KIOCL, which was 'canalized' through KIOCL, a CPSU under Ministry of Steel.
No change in policy for Iron Ore Pellets not manufactured by KIOCL: Subsequently, vide its Notification dated 26.09.2014 the export policy of Iron Ore pellets manufactured by Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Limited was amended to ‘Free’ from 'canalised'. Further, in the notification a policy condition was also added that the export of Iron Ore pellets manufactured by KIOCL is to be done by KIOCL Limited, Bangalore or any entity authorised by KIOCL Limited, Bangalore. However, there has been no amendment to the export policy of Iron Ore Pellets not manufactured by KIOCL.
Export duty on Pellets made Nil in 2011: To promote the export of Iron Ore pellets as a value added product, then Finance Minister Shri Pranab Mukherjee, had reduced export duty to ‘nil’ during the 2011-12 budget announcing in his budget speech"Iron ore is also exported in a value-added, pelletized form. Full exemption from export duty is being provided to Iron Ore pellets to encourage the value addition process for fines."
Iron Ore Pellet Export happening prior to even 2014: As per the Export Policy, items not mentioned specifically in the export schedule are “free” for exports. As per export data, Iron Ore Pellets were taking place even prior to change in export duty in 2011-12. The iron ore pellet export data in the ten years before the 2014 notification is given in the annexure and is available in public domain. Thus, the linkage to changes in 2014 notification is misleading and is not backed by data.
Legal position still under consideration: The legal opinion from Deputy Legal Advisor, Department of Legal Affairs has not been endorsed by the senior officials of the Department and cannot be taken as the official legal view on this matter. The matter for final legal position is under consideration.
Annexure: Export data of Iron Ore Pellets
|
|
S.No
|
|
Year
|
|
Quantity 
|
|
1.
|
|
2004-05
|
|
53,32,600
|
|
2.
|
|
2005-06
|
|
35,47,560
|
|
3.
|
|
2006-07
|
|
4,32,520
|
|
4.
|
|
2007-08
|
|
23,58,490
|
|
5.
|
|
2008-09
|
|
9,09,080
|
|
6.
|
|
2009-10
|
|
2,86,740
|
|
7.
|
|
2010-11
|
|
86,620
|
|
8.
|
|
2011-12
|
|
2,09,670
|
|
9.
|
|
2012-13
|
|
20
|
|
10.
|
|
2013-14
|
|
17,12,970
|
||
|
Total
|
|
1,48,76,270
YB
Ministry of Rural Development
MoU with Flipkart Under National Rural Livelihood Mission
A Memorandum of Understanding  is entered on November 2nd, 2021 between Ministry of Rural Development and Flipkart Internet Pvt. Ltd. to allow the Self Help Groups  producers including the artisans, weavers and craftsmen to access national markets through the Flipkart Samarth programme.
The key features of MoU are as follows:
SHG members and Clusters  will be provided training support for on-boarding products.
Waiver of all commission charges for selling on the platform for a period of 6 months.
Cataloguing support for a maximum of 100 products per seller.
Other benefits like support for warehousing and account management etc.
The Ministry in collaboration with Government e-Marketplace  has created “Saras Collection” as a Store Front in GeM for marketing of SHG products.
The States of Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh & West Bengal have supported SHGs in registering on the GeM portal.
Jharkhand has supported SHGs to register on Amazon and Flipkart while Kerala and Maharashtra have supported SHGs to register on Amazon.
The four States of Assam, Bihar, Kerala and Madhya Pradesh have developed e-commerce platforms to support SHGs; the details are provided below.
|
|
S.No
|
|
State
|
|
Name of Site
|
|
1
|
|
Assam
|
|
Asomi
|
|
2
|
|
Bihar
|
|
Jeevika Shop
|
|
3
|
|
Kerala
|
|
Kudumbashree Bazaar
|
|
4
|
|
Madhya Pradesh
|
|
Madhya Pradesh Aajeevika Mart
This information was given by Union Minister of State for Rural Development Ms Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti in a written reply in Lok Sabha yesterday.
Ministry of Education
Governor of Uttar Pradesh Smt. Anandiben Patel calls on Union Education Minister Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’
The Governor of Uttar Pradesh Smt. Anandiben Patel called on Union Education Minister Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ here today. Implementation of National Education Policy-2020 and other issues relating to Education sector were discussed during the meeting. Senior officials of the Ministry also attended the meeting.
During the meeting Smt. Anandiben Patel highlighted the initiatives taken by the State Education Department, Uttar Pradesh such as providing training to Anganwadi workers, teachers training, etc to ensure the academic welfare of the students. She also presented a copy of the book ‘Teacher’s guide’ for students of Pre-primary level and Primary level, to the Union Minister. The guide will help teachers to develop a better understanding of student centric teaching practices covering various subjects of environment, value education, etc in a joyful manner.
Shri Pokhriyal informed that as outlined in New Education policy, the foundation literacy and numeracy mission will be extended to Early Childhood Care Education for which a framework will be prepared on learning outcomes, teachers training, etc. He also informed that NCERT is developing a new National Curriculum Framework . He added that the suggestions given in the Teacher’s Guide will be examined and suitably incorporated in the NCF.
Ministry of Finance
Income Tax Department conducts searches in Kanchipuram, Chennai and Vellore
The Income Tax Department conducted searches on 05/10/2021 in two cases of Kanchipuram, one being a Chit Fund and Financing Group and the other a retailer of Silk Sarees and other garments. The search operations were carried out at 34 premises located in Kanchipuram, Chennai and Vellore.
In the case of Chit Fund group, it was found that this group was running an unauthorised chit fund business, and all the investments and pay-outs of more than Rs. 400 crore, in the last few years, were done entirely in cash. Evidences revealed that the group had earned unaccounted income by way of commission and dividends.
Numerous Promissory notes, signed post-dated cheques and power of attorney documents kept as collateral for the loans given or from chit subscribers have also been seized. The group had also earned unaccounted interest income from cash financing and had huge unaccounted investments and expenses.
Many property documents registered in the names of group members and their associates have been found and seized. Properties owned by this group’s members include palatial homes, farm houses and lands, luxury vehicles, etc. whereas they were either non-filers or had disclosed negligible income in their tax returns, so far.
Many associates and investors of the chit fund were investigated and they have also admitted to have made unaccounted investments and earned unaccounted income. Unaccounted cash of Rs. 1.35 crore and gold jewellery of about 7.5 kg has been seized. The undisclosed income detected, so far, in this group is more than Rs. 150 crore.
In the case of the other group, engaged in business of Silk Sarees and other garments, evidences were found relating to sales suppression during the last 4 years. The manipulation of sales figures through a customized software application was detected. Post such manipulations, the group members used to take out the unaccounted cash on a regular basis, and made unaccounted investments in land and buildings. The group members also used to incur huge cash expenses on lavish lifestyle, give/ repay cash loans, make Chit investments, etc.
Unaccounted cash of Rs. 44 lakh and gold jewellery of about 9.5 kg has been seized. The undisclosed income detected, so far, in this group is more than Rs. 100 crore.
Further investigations in both these cases are in progress.
Prime Minister's Office
PM replies to citizens’ comments on his visit to Modhera
The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has replied to citizens’ comments on his visit to Modhera.
The Prime Minister tweeted;
On Modhera being declared a 24 x 7 solar-powered village:
“I can imagine your happiness. Modhera has scripted history.”
On Sun Temple in Modhera
“I’m happy to see this. I also saw you’ve done a thread on your visit. Good way to popularise India’s historical and tourist places.”
Ministry of Coal
Bid Due Date Extension till 13th January, 2023 for Ongoing Commercial Coal Mine Auction
Ministry of Coal has launched 6th round of commercial coal mine auctions on November 03, 2022 along with 2nd attempt of 5th round of commercial coal mine auctions. The due date for submission of online & offline bids was December 30, 2022.
The Ministry has organized Investor’s Conclaves in Mumbai, Bengaluru and Indore recently for which tremendous response was received. Many requests for extension of bid due date were received during conclaves and also in writing at the office of Nominated Authority, Ministry of Coal. In response to such requests from prospective bidders, the Ministry has extended the bid due date till January 13, 2023.
The revised auction schedule has been uploaded on the MSTC portal and prospective bidders are advised to adhere to the timelines provided in the revised schedule for bid submission.
Ministry of Law and Justice
Press Communique
In exercise of the power conferred by the Constitution of India, the President is pleased to appoint Smt. Manjusha Ajay Deshpande, Advocate, as an Additional Judge of the Bombay High Court for a period of two years with effect from the date she assumes charge of her office.
Ministry of Road Transport & Highways
SCHEME FOR GOOD SAMARITAN
The Ministry has launched the “Scheme for grant of Award to the Good Samaritan who has saved life of a victim of a fatal accident involving a motor vehicle by administering immediate assistance and rushing to Hospital/Trauma Care Centre within the Golden Hour of the accident to provide medical treatment" on 03.10.2021. As per the Scheme Guidelines, the amount of award for each Good Samaritan would be Rs. 5,000/- per incident. The Scheme has been widely publicized through social media including PIB Note.
As per the information available with the Ministry, total number of road accidents in the country during the last three calendar years from 2018 to 2020 is given in the table below:
|
|
Year
|
|
Total Number of Road Accidents

|
|
% change
|
|
2018
|
|
4,67,044
|
|
-
|
|
2019
|
|
4,49,002
|
|
-3.86
|
|
2020
|
|
3,66,138
|
|
-18.46
As may be seen, there is marginal decrease in the number of road accidents.
Based on the FIR data received from various States/UTs, the yearly analysis are done at Transport Research Wing of this Ministry. As per analysis of the reasons for road accidents, these mainly occur due to multiple causes such as over speeding, use of Mobile phone, drunken driving/consumption of alcohol / drug, overloaded Vehicle, vehicular condition, poor light condition, jumping red light, overtaking, neglect of civic bodies, weather condition, fault of driver, driving on wrong side, defect in road condition, defect in condition of motor vehicle, fault of cyclist, fault of pedestrian etc. Further, based upon the various studies the Ministry has formulated a multi-pronged strategy to address the issue of road safety based on Education, Engineering , Enforcement and Emergency Care.
As part of operation and maintenance of the National Highways under National Highways Authority of India , there is provision of Ambulances with paramedical staff / Emergency Medical team with Technician / Nurse which are stationed near the toll plazas.
Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has formulated Rules regarding the rights of Good Samaritan vide notification dated 29.09.2020  to motivate the general public to help the road accident victims in emergency situation. As per the notification, a Good Samaritan who has informed the police of any accident involving a motor vehicle, or who has transported a victim of an accident involving a motor vehicle to the hospital, shall not be subjected to any further requirements by the police or the hospital, and shall be permitted to leave immediately. Besides, this Ministry has also issued a scheme on 21.09.2021, namely “Scheme of Financial Assistance for Administering Road Safety Advocacy and Awards for the outstanding work done in the field of road safety” through which various NGOs and other organizations organize different road safety related activities including activities to motivate general public to help the road accident victims in emergency situation and awareness about it.
This information was given by Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Shri Nitin Gadkari in a written reply in the Lok Sabha.
Ministry of Tourism
Study by Tourism Ministry on “India and the Coronavirus Pandemic: Economic Losses for Households Engaged in Tourism and Policies for Recovery”
Ministry of Tourism has engaged National Council of Applied Economic Research  in January, 2021 to conduct study on “India and the Coronavirus Pandemic: Economic Losses for Households Engaged in Tourism and Policies for Recovery”.
The objective of this study are as follows:
- Quantify the sector-wise  direct and indirect impact of tourism activities on overall economy, as a whole and especially on household income, which may be further disaggregated into different types of households like formal and informal.
- Quantify the sector-wise and overall loss in income of the economy and of the household sector and also the loss in jobs, due to the impact of Coronavirus pandemic on the tourism sector.
- Estimate the impact of gradual opening up of domestic tourism activities and of the sectors related to tourism.
- Estimate the likely impact of opening of international tourism, in the phased manner.
- Propose policy measures appropriate to provide relief to the tourism sector, in general, and households involved in tourism related activities, in particular.
The report is awaited from NCAER.
This information was given by Minister of State for Tourism & Culture Shri Prahlad Singh Patelin a written reply in Rajya Sabha today.
President's Secretariat
Envoys of five Nations present credentials to President of India through Video Conference
The President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind, accepted credentials from Ambassador/High Commissioner from the Republic of El Salvador, Panama, Tunisia, the United Kingdom and the Argentine Republic today  in a virtual ceremony. Those who presented their credentials were:
1. H.E. Mr Guillermo Rubio Funes, Ambassador of the Republic of El Salvador
2. H.E. Mrs Yasiel Alines Burillo Rivera, Ambassador of Panama
3. H.E. Mrs Hayet Talbi, Ambassador of Tunisia
4. H.E. Mr Alex Ellis, High Commissioner of the United Kingdom
5. H.E. Mr Hugo Javier Gobbi, Ambassador of the Argentine Republic
Speaking on the occasion, the President conveyed his good wishes to the envoys on their appointment. He said that India enjoys warm and friendly relations with all these five countries and that our ties were deeply rooted in a common vision of peace and prosperity. He also thanked their Governments for supporting India’s candidature for the non-permanent seat of UN Security Council for the term 2021-22.
President Kovind said that India has been at the forefront in the global efforts to forge a decisive and coordinated response to the COVID-19 to ensure our collective health and economic well-being. He further stated that under Government of India’s Vaccine Maitri initiative, highly affordable vaccines made in India have already reached several countries, re-enforcing our reputation as “Pharmacy of the World”.
In their comments, the envoys underlined the strong partnership that their countries have with India and conveyed the commitment of their leaderships to strengthen relations with India. The envoys also lauded India’s efforts in providing COVID-19 vaccines to the international community.